So, I want a new phone, in particular, the Galaxy S2 and i'm with 3, but I don't want to just plonk down what they are asking for it for a 24 month contract.

Does anyone here have any experience with wangling the phone companies for better deals, and if so, how?

JohnnyK

17-06-2011, 10:02 PM

I'm with Orange here in Austria, and my 2-year-deal just ran out, but the way their bonus club works I'd have to pay about the same for a Galaxy S (and get a new 2 year deal) as what it costs without simlock in most stores. So I called and asked around, but after much pestering all they gave me was 2 levels up for that bonus club, which would save me about 50 bucks on a new phone. I do have a great plan though (they had a promotion for 50% off of all fees for the lifetime of a deal, so I am paying 17.5€ for 1000 mins nationwide/300 mins to the EU/1000 SMS/1GB) so they are probably not in a rush to keep me at all costs.
A friend of mine had a similar experience with 3, so he switched carriers, which is probably the only easy way to get a phone for cheap unless your monthly rates are high enough for them to actually care about you.
If you want to test them, just cancel your deal. If they want to keep you, they will call and make an offer. If not, there's probably no way to get them to offer any kind of discount.

lostrootpass

17-06-2011, 11:33 PM

It might be worth your while getting the phone itself SIM free and then going with GiffGaff -- depending on how cheaply you get the handset, it may work out significantly cheaper in the long run. One of my phones is currently on an 18 month contract, and after doing the calculations I'd have saved ~£100 by buying the phone upfront and GiffGaffing it.

If that's not an option (it wasn't for me at the time) then shop around with carrier partners -- CPW, P4U, etc. Some of them carry better deals than the carrier stores themselves, but be wary of dodgy salesmen.

If you'd rather a more upfront sales experience, a carrier store is the way to go. Ask politely and they'll set you up with the best deal. Carrier stores don't have the same "play ignorant of bargains" mentality that carrier partners do, so it's usually safe to take them at face value, with a few exceptions.

Depending on how long you want to tie yourself in to a contract, it may be worth your while flirting with someone who works for O2 and convincing them to become your significant other. That way you get a 30% discount on all contracts, a rather nice Staff Tariff (though I'm not sure if they even do this any more) as well as a 15-20% discount on all Apple hardware, if that's your thing.

The latter option obviously ties you in to the longest contract with the most severe of early termination fees.

Or if you want to stick with Three, just call up at the end of your contract and ask to be transferred to Retentions. Carrier retention teams have unbelievable power when it comes to keeping customers, but to get the best deal out of this you have to a) don't be a dick and b) don't press the issue if the CSR insists that it's the best deal they can offer -- they're scored on targets so it's in their interests to make the best deal they can in order to retain a high percentage of customers.